LIfe at Penrhys Isolation Hospital

Shelia Bowden and daughter, Dawn – photo: Smallpox1962

The Penrhys Isolation Hospital which stood above the Rhondda Valleys became a focal point of the smallpox outbreak, with Shuka Mia and Dr Hodkinson being treated there. But while Penrhys was simply a hospital to many, for the Bowden family it was home.

Donald Tudor Bowden was caretaker at the hospital for many years and lived there with his wife, Sheila, and his daughter, Dawn. However, when the smallpox outbreak began, the Bowdens’ lives were turned upside down.

Mr Bowden at Penrhys Hospital Gates – photo: ITV Wales

50 years on, Mrs Bowden and daughter Dawn Phillips were still living in Tonypandy in the Rhondda.

Recorded by David Kevin Williams.

You can view the insurance documents from the the Bowden’s Penrhys compensation claim, which lists all the items claimed for by the Bowdens, by clicking here.